Maybe Missing You
by soccerislife14
Summary: It's been a year since he's been gone. Everyone seems to be coping. Everyone except Max. No one knows that though - she has to stay strong. It's what he would have wanted. But that's hard, especially once she gets an unexpected visitor. Fax/PostFANG. R


A/N: Hey again! Long time no write. I won't try to explain why I've been gone because it would take a while, but I'm back and ready to pick up the writin'.

Anyway, this is a one-shot based off another one-shot I wrote called "A Different Kind of Pain." One thing you have to know about me is that I'm crazy on rewrites. I love them. The thing is, I wouldn't call this a 'rewrite,' exactly, because there are a few different things that happen, but others may call it that. I hope you like it, either way.

_Disclaimer:_ I don't own Maximum Ride. I do own this laptop, however, that needs to be replaced due to the memory I use up on FanFiction. But hey, who's complaining?

Enjoy!

* * *

Arizona was so beautiful, even so late in September. It made Max sick.

The teen kicked the leaves on the sidewalk as she passed by, her gaze lowered to soles of her sneakers. Her usual oozing self-confidence was faltering, replaced by shyness and indifference. It was a gorgeous day, and the sun was shining. Max glowered at the stupid ball of light as long as she could stand until small black areas dotted her vision. The only purpose it served was to mock her. The small, wispy clouds might as well be pouring with rain and the sky should be a deep gray, so it would at least explain the way she felt.

She kicked up the leaves again. Laughter filled the air and Max turned on the spot, suddenly alert.

"C'mon, Keith, act your age!" A blonde girl about Max's age giggled to a boy Max assumed was Keith. He was tall, dark, and spoke with a slightly Spanish accent.

Max immediately stepped back into the shade of a nearby birch tree. No need to draw attention to herself.

"It's only a leaf, Lena," he said with a grin. Keith gathered a handful of fallen leaves and placed them on his head. "See? Not that bad."

The girl shoved him playfully and he sneakily threw a few leaves in her direction. Lena laughed and Keith pulled her in for a kiss.

Max's heart lurched. She furrowed her eyebrows and turned away.

Once the disgustingly happy couple had gotten a safe distance away (I mean, seriously, get a room), she stepped out from her hiding place.

Taking a deep breath, Max looked up at the sky. Almost as if on cue, a raven flew across the sky. Its wings were dark, glinting almost purple in the sunlight –

Max blinked. _Of course. _

_Fang, I swear, I'm going to kill you if I ever see you again. _

Max checked her watch. "Crap," she muttered. It was getting late. Her flock needed her. Her short-lived break time was finished for now. She had to stay strong, for them anyway.

_It's what he would have wanted_, she thought.

Taking a quick glance around her and checking for any vigilant passers-by, and seeing no one besides a small little girl outside playing in a front yard, Max whipped off her light windbreaker and took to the sky.

"Pretty angel!" the girl screeched, delighted. Max smiled just a little at that.

When she was within a mile of the house, Max purposely tried to think of normal thoughts, so as to not worry Angel. When she landed in the yard, she plastered a fake smile on her face and walked in.

"Max!" Nudge grinned, calling from the kitchen table where her and Gazzy were playing Go Fish.

"Hey, Nudge."

Max walked over to study Nudge and Gazzy's game, crossing her arms as she did so. Nudge was winning. Gazzy was cheating. Max saw him and Angel sharing glances with one another, and assumed that Angel was giving him some 'hints' about Nudge's cards. She cocked a suspicious eyebrow at Angel, who was playing with Total across the room, and the little almost-8-year-old giggled.

"Max, Dr. M is out getting some groceries. Told me to tell you when you got back from your walk," Iggy called from the back porch.

"Gotcha."

Max could hear Iggy and Ella out on the back porch, resuming their conversation.

Dylan was taking a nap on the couch, and Magnolia was lapping his cheek while he slept. This would have been amusing if Max hadn't been so miserable. Max considered pouring the glass of water sitting on the coffee table right in his face, but didn't really have the heart to today. He was _so_ annoying nowadays though – always reminding her that a certain someone was gone, had been gone for a long time now, and wasn't coming back, so she needed to make a choice – and Max _so _wasn't interested.

It had been over a year. Everyone else seemed to be adapting to having one less flock member. Everyone except Max.

Sure, during those first few months Max had walked in someone's room on more than one occasion and seen them crying. They missed him. _She _missed him. She hadn't cried since he left, though. She wasn't going to break down – she refused to. Being without him was like trying to breathe with no lungs, trying to remember someone she never met. It was enough to make her wake up, grasping for someone who was never going to be there. Her best friend was gone.

But her Flock was coping. They knew he wasn't coming back, and they didn't stop missing him, but they adapted to life without him. They were in a healthier place than she.

To say she missed him was an understatement. She almost expected him to randomly appear out from the shadows with that crooked smirk of his, but she knew it was stupid to hope. She had left message upon message on Fang's blog for the first six months, but had given up. Her last message had been this:

_Fang. This is my last message. Do I understand why you left? Yes. Do I think it was for the best? No. Come home. I need you. –M._

That was so out of character for her. Maximum Ride never admitted to being weak or needing help. But whenever her thoughts drifted to that day, she couldn't help but wrap her palm around the folded, worn letter that she still kept in her back pocket. She couldn't help the gasp of air that escaped her mouth whenever she was about to cry. She couldn't help how her heart was breaking.

She needed him because…well…because she loved him.

And this was killing her.

Sitting down in the loveseat, Max studied this scene in front of her. She propped her head in her hands, and stupidly enough, she felt like crying. She blinked rapidly, and her throat got tight, causing her to gasp for small intakes of air. Before she knew it, a small hand was holding hers. Max looked down. It was Angel.

_You shouldn't cry., _She said in her mind._._

Angel's big blue eyes were concerned and honest. It had to be hard to see someone like a mother being so upset. Max smiled a little and pulled Angel close.

No one else noticed this little exchange. Max heard the undeniable sound of her mother's SUV pulling up the driveway.

"It's fine, Ange," she said softly. "It'll be okay." She hugged Angel to her.

"Yes, it will," Angel said in a tone that sounded as if she knew something that Max didn't. Then, she patted Max's head and walked back to where Total was waiting expectantly for his belly to be rubbed.

Max stared after her and considered calling her back. What did Angel know? But before she had time to think about it, her mother walked in the door carrying a few bags of groceries.

"Hey, guys," Dr. Martinez said, dropping the bags on the counter.

"Food!" Gazzy yelled, attacking the bags.

"Hey, I want some! Don't hog!" Iggy and Ella came back inside from the porch, and Max noticed they were holding hands. Ella smiled at her Mom and said, "You weren't gone very long."

"Eh, light traffic today," she said offhandedly. Dr. Martinez glanced at the back door before she started putting groceries away, and Angel's face lit up.

Max couldn't stand the happy atmosphere. Her eyes were glued to Iggy and Ella's hands. Her heart thudded painfully for the second time that day, her mind already miles away, back to a time when a certain dark-haired mutant used to hold her hand like that.

Her mom met her eyes, knowing something was wrong. She gave Max a questioning look.

"Honey, what's –"

"I'll be upstairs," Max interrupted, stiffly. Then she bolted up to the bedroom she shared with Ella and slammed the door with maybe a little too much force.

* * *

_I am going to kill him,_ Max thought for the millionth time that year. Why would he do this to her? She would rather be in danger with him here, than be safe with him gone. He knew that. He had to be insane. Didn't he _care _that his stupid letter ripped her heart out every time she read it? Didn't all those years depending on each other mean anything to him? Didn't he realize after the Flock broke up for the first time that they needed each other?

But Fang wasn't an idiot. Normally. He had a reason for leaving, and he wouldn't have left unless he felt it was extremely, extremely important. He had made it clear in his letter that he didn't want her to talk to him. That he would always want to come back.

Max had no way of knowing if he was safe or not. She needed him here, safe, in her arms to feel whole herself. He could take care of himself, but she needed him _here_. He belonged home, with her.

She missed her best friend.

_You know what? To hell with my pride_, Max thought dejectedly. She let down all of her stupid walls of protection, and, for the first time in over a year, Maximum Ride just put her head in her hands and cried.

* * *

In the dead of the night, the back door slipped open and quietly clicked shut within the time span of about 4 seconds. It wasn't loud enough to even stir Ella Martinez, who had fallen asleep on the couch in her living room.

Slight footsteps were the only indication that someone was there. They echoed softly through the sleeping house, through the living room, took a right at the staircase, and were one step on the first stair when the newcomer was finally recognized.

"Hey there, Fang."

Startled, the teenager's invisibility flickered and then died, and he froze, eyes wide and focused on the robed figure at the top of the staircase. He was, if even possible, taller than he was a year before, reaching a little over six feet, and his hair was in need of a trim.

"You're getting a little sloppy. I knew that had to be you I saw on my way back from the store. I figured you would stop by at some point."

Dr. M smiled, but Fang stayed silent. It'd been a year. She probably wasn't that happy with him, and he waited with baited breath for her to wake up the rest of the household so they could all say how much they hated him for leaving... But she didn't. She just pulled her robe tighter around her and wrapped her hands around her coffee mug, and gestured upstairs.

"Second door on your left." She made to turn around, but faltered. "And, Fang," she said softly, "don't hurt her again." With that, Valencia Martinez turned on her heel and walked back to her bedroom and closed the door behind her.

Phew. Fang let out a sigh of relief.

Okay.

Fang followed her directions to the second door on the left, past doors that held his sleeping family members. He missed them, and being so close to them now after so long apart only worsened that, but there would be time for tearful reunions later.

"ELLA'S ROOM" was inscribed on the paneling, but Fang knew that Ella was downstairs asleep. His hand froze just centimeters above the doorknob.

What if this wasn't the best idea? Max had to have moved on by now. He was breaking his promise by being here. This was crazy –

He opened the door before he could talk himself out of it.

Ella's room had changed since he had last been here. When she was thirteen, Ella had an annoying phase where she worshipped the Jonas Brothers and pink lipgloss. She seemed to have grown out of that by now, and her room was decorated in different shades of green and purple, although he did notice a few leftover JoBro references. Ew.

However, the decoration wasn't important. None of it mattered. Because there was an angel sleeping on the bed, sprawled in the blankets. He took a few steps forward, being careful not to wake her.

God, she was so beautiful.

He had forgotten the little details, like how she sometimes bit her lower lip when she sleeped and how that one freckle on her cheek was a little darker than the others. But a lot hadn't changed – the sound of Max's breathing was still so vital, and just the sight of her sent his heart on haywire.

He was instantly aware that Max was having a nightmare. Her hands were clenched into tight fists, her eyes were fluttering, her brows furrowed characteristically in her sleep. It took him a moment to notice the tear tracks falling down her face.

"Mmm…no…" she choked. Her hands reached out to grab someone that wasn't there.

Fang stood there uncertainly for a moment, then slowly reached out to place one of his hands in hers, reveling in her warm touch, and carefully sat on the bed. She relaxed after a moment, and then started snoring lightly.

Yepp, she still snored.

So yeah, he was so going to get it in the morning from her. And all wasn't going to be forgiven quickly, he knew that. Fang wasn't stupid. But for now…well, for the first time in a year, he felt whole again. He felt like maybe, just maybe, things were going to be okay.

The hand holding his suddenly twitched and Max opened her eyes.

* * *

A/N: …So, these are the cliches I make up in my mind. C'mon, we _all_ do it. Haha. If you have a little time on your hands, any and all reviews are appreciated!

Thanks for reading. You rock.

Love,

-soccerislife14


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